


Stay With Me

by larislynn



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Badass Katara (Avatar), F/F, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Hypothermia, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:00:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28144242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larislynn/pseuds/larislynn
Summary: When you and Katara have to hide from Fire Nation soldiers, you don't expect hypothermia to be the worst problem you face. Will the freezing temps force feelings to be revealed?Prompt: "You always hated the cold."Requested: Yes
Relationships: Katara (Avatar)/Reader, The Gaang (Avatar) & Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	Stay With Me

You shivered as the night wind blew around the campsite. Huddling closer to the fire, you watched the flames flicker and dance. 

Katara glanced over to you, looking concerned. “Are you cold?”

Nodding sheepishly, you looked down. Considering you were also from the Southern Water Tribe you should have been more acclimated to cold weather. But instead, you froze like a block of ice when it was even moderately chilly.

“Do you want to borrow my coat? I don’t need it,” Katara offered. 

You shook your head, “No, you shouldn’t have to be cold. I’ll be fine.” Just as you finished your statement another shiver wracked through your body. 

Instead of accepting your answer, she shrugged the coat off and wrapped it around your shoulders. “Trust me, you need it more than me. I really don’t mind the chill.”

“Thank you,” you smiled. The coat protected you from the harsh winds and you snuggled into it. Glancing over, you watched the way the fire danced over Katara’s face, her eyes twinkling in the dim light. 

“The fire’s starting to go out,” Aang commented. “We need more firewood.”

“Well I’m not going to get it,” Sokka said. “I was out collecting berries all day.”

Katara looked over at you, “Do you want to go?”

“Sure,” you agreed. “It’s probably safer that we go together anyways,” you added with a wink. 

Katara laughed and pulled you up, “Let’s go.” 

Once you were out of earshot Toph turned to Aang, “Hey Twinkletoes, how much do you want to bet that they’ll start dating for real by the end of the week. All this fake flirting is going to lead to some real flirting soon.” 

“No way,” Aang countered, “It will take until the end of the month at least. They’re too bad at expressing their feelings.” 

“How about stead of placing bets you pay attention to your surroundings,” Sokka said quickly, packing up some items. He pointed towards some torchlight coming from the nearby woods. Firebenders. “We need to go, now.’

“We can’t just leave them here,” Toph protested. 

“Don’t worry,” Sokka said. “I’m sure they’ll figure out what happened. We can circle back for them in the morning. It’s not like we have any other choice.”

He was right, if they stayed there the whole group would have been captured by the Fire Nation soldiers. Instead, they made it out without being seen. When you and Katara made your way back to camp, the site was deserted. 

Katara looked around in confusion, “What happened?” 

You saw the fire had been put out and everything was gone, no signs of a fight. “They willingly left for some reason, and I think I can guess why.” In the distance you could see firelight from what appeared to be an encampment of soldiers. 

“They’ll probably come back for us in the morning,” Katara noted, “once the Fire Nation soldiers leave. Until they do we’ll have to set up camp somewhere safer.”

You nodded in agreement. “I have an idea,” you said quickly. “There was a cave not too far from here, it’d be perfect to shelter in for the night.” 

Katara smirked, “I wouldn’t mind taking shelter with you anytime.” You blushed at her response. Taking a breath you tried to ignore your racing heart. After all, it wasn’t as if she meant it. She was just flirting, like the two of you always did. Considering the fact you had been best friends since childhood that’s probably all she saw you as— a friend. 

To be honest, it hurt thinking that she’d never see you the way you saw her. But for the time being, those thoughts had to be pushed to the back of your mind. There were more important things to worry about.

Reaching the cave, you sighed. It wasn’t as far back from the soldiers’ camp as you’d have liked, but it would have to do. Even with the warmth of Katara’s cloak you still shivered. 

“I should light a fire,” Katara said, picking up some of the wood you had collected. Before she could, you reached out to stop her.

“No,” you insisted. “I’ll be fine. If they see the fire we’re done for.” 

She hesitated for a moment but gave in. “I guess you’re right,” she sighed. “We’ll just have to figure out something else.”

“You should take your cloak, you’ll get sick.” When you tried to take it off, she stopped you. 

“I don’t need it as much as you do, keep the jacket on.” She paused, blushing lightly. “If you want, we can cuddle to stay warm.” 

“Alright,” you said with a smile. You had partly thought she was joking until she curled up next to you. Instantly you felt warmer, blush creeping up the sides of your face. 

“We can’t fall asleep, if hypothermia sets in…” you trailed off, not wanting to state the obvious. If you fell asleep, chances are you’d never wake up again.

“I know,” she whispered. She smiled, thinking back to your childhood. “You know, you always hated the cold.” 

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” you chuckled. You were starting to feel warm, but not just from the shared body heat. 

“I mean, it surprised me. When you told me I just knew I had to get to know you. After all, who doesn’t like the cold?” She shook her head. 

You smiled fondly at the memory, “Remember how you tried to get me to like the cold? All those snowball fights, and all I did was get sick,” you laughed. “At least I won.”

“Well as I recall you won only because I was too busy staring at you.” 

You blushed but rolled your eyes. “Just admit I’m better than you at snowball fights, princess."

“Never,” she laughed. As she did, you shrugged off the cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. “What are you doing? You need to keep warm!”

“I am warm,” you insisted sleepily. “I’ll take it back later if I need it, I promise.” 

She hesitated for a minute but accepted it. There was never much point in arguing with you, she always let you win fights anyways. She just couldn’t stay mad at you.

Katara looked over at you, about to mention another memory, but instead saw you fighting to keep your eyes open. She shook you gently, “Hey, you have to stay awake, remember? Stay with me, alright?”

All you could was mumble, “Just a few minutes. I’m so sleepy.”

Placing the cloak back over you she argued, “No, you can’t go to sleep! You’ve got to stay with me.” She placed a hand on your forehead, but recoiled it quickly. You were cold as ice. “I’m starting a fire right now. You need it.”

Now that woke you up. You weakly protested, “No, the soldiers. If they see…” 

“I don’t care,” Katara countered. “I can’t lose you. If they find us then they find us, but I won’t let you die without doing anything.” With that she grabbed the kindling and began to light a small fire. 

“Katara, no. They’ll find you. If they capture you...” you didn’t even want to finish the sentence. You could feel yourself growing tired again, and you knew you’d soon fall asleep for good. “I can’t let that happen.”

Her voice was pained, “And I can’t lose you! Don’t you see? I love you.” Those words echoed in your mind as you drifted into unconsciousness.

You jolted awake, trying to get a bearing of where you were. You realized you were in the sky, and in the background you could hear the others talking amongst themselves. Sitting up, you took a deep breath.“Huh, so I’m not dead.” 

Katara rushed over to you, having heard you wake up. As she did, all the memories came flooding back. Did she really say she loved you?

“You’re finally awake,” she said quietly. “I was so worried. How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling better. Thank you for getting me out of there.”

She nodded, sitting next to you. “Do you remember what happened?”

You nodded weakly, still trying to comprehend everything. “I think I do,” you answered. “What you said, did you mean it?”

Her eyes met yours, “Every word.” You felt yourself leaning forward, and your forehead rested against hers.

“I love you too.” Your lips met and you could feel your heart pounding in your chest. When you finally broke away from the kiss you smiled. “If this is how things turn out I should almost freeze to death more often.”

Katara chuckled, pulling you back into another kiss. “Don’t even think about it.”

**Author's Note:**

> This was such a fun request to write! As always, kudos and comments are appreciated! Love you all! <3


End file.
